Tag: Arkansas

Burning the Leafy Blanket: Winter Prescribed Fire and Litter-Roosting Bats

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Rather than hibernating in caves, some bat species in the southeastern U.S. get through the coldest parts of winter by roosting under fallen leaves, twigs, and other dead plant material on the forest floor. Although this leaf litter protects bats from the cold, it could also put them at risk of being injured or killed…  More 

Bringing Bottomland Forests Back to the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
The vast Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) that stretches along the Mississippi River from southern Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico once supported 24 million acres of bottomland and wetland forest — rich stands of oak, gum, ash, hickory, baldcypress, and water tupelo. The hydrology of the original floodplain was drastically altered by flood-control levees built…  More 

Tribes and the U.S. Forest Service Strengthen Partnerships

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Tribal Nations and the U.S. Forest Service recently met at the 14th annual To Bridge a Gap meeting to share scientific research and traditional ecological knowledge, while discussing strategies for managing cultural and natural resources in the National Forests. The meeting was held from March 30 – April 2, and was hosted by the Eastern…  More 

Mississippi Alluvial Valley Forests: The Next 50 Years

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
The Southern Forest Futures Project (SFFP) started in 2008 as an effort to study and understand the various forces reshaping the forests across the 13 states of the Southeast. Chartered by the U.S. Forest Service Southern Region and Southern Research Station (SRS) along with the Southern Group of State Foresters, the project examined a variety…  More 

The Status of Ash Species in Selected Southern States

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
A new Science Update  from the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) provides the latest data on ash tree (Fraxinus spp.) species in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The emerald ash borer, an introduced Asian beetle species first detected in Michigan in 2002, has spread throughout the northeastern U.S. and into the southern states…  More 

Driving OHVs through Streams

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
Millions of people enjoy nature while riding all-terrain vehicles, utility or recreational off-highway vehicles, or off-highway motorcycles. Collectively, these vehicles are called off-highway vehicles or OHVs, and in the southeastern U.S. – especially in Arkansas – much of this vehicle use occurs on U.S. Forest Service lands or other public lands. In Arkansas, increased off-highway…  More 

Kids Enjoy Learning at the Crossett

by Patty Matteson, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
Pirates, beavers, and eagles recently descended on the Crossett Experimental Forest. These are the names of the school mascots for the more than 150 students from Lakeside, Drew Central, and Crossett high schools in Arkansas who showed up for a day of hands-on forestry learning brought to them by faculty and staff from the U.S. Forest Service…  More 

2014 Crossett Forestry Field Day, May 16-17

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Held at the Crossett Experimental Forest near Crossett, Arkansas, the 2014 field day will provide a full program for foresters, conservationists, land owners, and policy makers on the broad range of ecosystem services provided by loblolly and shortleaf pine forests of natural origin. Included in the general program on May 16 are experts in forest…  More 

Eighty Years of Southern Pine Silviculture on the Crossett Experimental Forest

by Sarah Farmer, Science Delivery Group  • 
By the 1930s, U.S. Forest Service researchers and others were developing silvicultural practices that small landowners and farmers could use to grow productive forests even in the southeastern U.S., where land use had led to widespread depletion and degradation of natural resources. Forest Service researchers established Farm Forestry demonstration plots where landowners could see research…  More 

Leaf Litter Keeps Ground-Roosting Eastern Red Bats Warm

by Sarah Farmer, Science Delivery Group  • 
When winter weather arrives, most bats hibernate in caves, but a few species migrate to warmer areas. Warmer being relative, the migrating bats may still end up in places that are too cold for comfort, and sometimes hibernate under leaf litter for short periods of time. Roger Perry, U.S. Forest Service researcher, studied these temporary…  More